More than 40,000 people from 100+countries, including
those with disabilities and special needs, have completed over 1,300 murals. A large emphasis is
placed on encouraging children to paint murals and the project is officially recognized as a vital
contribution of arts in support of the UNESCO Decade for the Culture of Peace and Non Violence
Among Children of the World, the UN Millennium Development Goals, and the Convention for the
Rights of the Child.

The Art Miles Mural Project consists of twelve one
mile long acrylic painted murals on canvas involving twelve distinct themes—The Multicultural
Diversity Mile, The Environmental Mile, Sports, Music, Women, Senior, Celebrity, Fairy
Tale, Peace, Unity and Healing, Mentor, and The Indigenous Peoples Mile. Each of these
murals is twelve foot (12’) long by five foot (5’) wide. There are 440 canvasses per
mile and a total of 5,280 murals will be joined together .

The Art Miles Mural Project forms collaborations with
numerous organizations, groups, conference support organizations, hospitals, foundations, and
educational and cultural entities within different countries. One of these organizations is the
International Education and Resource Network (iEARN)(www.iearn.org) and Art Miles is
one of their 85 collaborative art projects. Art Miles has recently established a contact with an
Italian representative in that country who lives in Narnia, Italy, geographically located outside
of Rome and of which the C.S.Lewis "Narnia" books and films were developed around.

At the beginning of 2002, over 500 murals had been
completed by children from over 80 countries ranging from Bangladesh to the Seychelles, Europe,
Latin American, Asia, and Australia. Children with no hands have completed them with their feet,
blind children have painted to music, and Peruvian street children have painted them by
candlelight. Teachers on vacation have carried canvas and paint in their backpacks instead of
carrying clothing, through the Himalayas to children in Nepal and Mongolia. Schools, churches,
YMCA’s, Boys and Girls Clubs and Kids at Risk programs, after school groups, homeless
shelters, multicultural organizations and festivals, hospitals, private and commercial companies,
and environmental groups, have been among the many organizations that have hosted the mural
happenings. Many murals have shown their "healing power" and kids in camps sponsored by
the American Cancer Society, and other organizations have seen the effect and dimensions of joy
children have experienced from working on the Art Mile Mural Project.

Mural made by San Vito lo Capo Schools Sicilia Italy

Background: The Art Miles Mural Project
has been featured in scores of local, state, national and international media, a variety of
television programs and has been a subject of video films and documentaries, and as a special
feature in the International Children’s Art Foundation (ICAF) Child Art Magazine.

Many of the murals have also been showcased in a
variety of exhibitions, galleries, museums, and public buildings, including the American Museum of
Natural History and at Ground Zero in New York City. This project, based on it’s overwhelming
popularity, has also become the premiere activity for major conferences ranging from the
International Children’s Environmental Health Conference in Washington, DC, National Network
for Youth Conferences, and the United Nations Environment Program International Children’s
Conference on the Environment, the USA Environmental Protection Agency and other organizations.

Based on the popularity of this project and it’s
global appeal, an invitation was extended by the government of the City of Mexico City and their
National Gallery of Art to bring The Art Miles to the famed Teotihuacan Pyramids during the Vernal
Equinox (March 21, 2002). The event was chronicled as one of Mexico’s most amazing historical
events. It actually started a tradition to be carried forward in years to come and help promote
Mexico’s architectural and tourist wonders. The objective of this project was to focus on
children and to support UNESCO’s oversight of the United Nations Year of Cultural Heritage
during the Decade of the Culture of Peace and Non-Violence Among Children of the World, by
inviting students from Mexico City’s seventy-five (75) school districts to paint murals on
site. This was, indeed an incredible opportunity for children and visitors to watch first hand,
children express what is in their hearts during one of Mother Nature’s most spiritual
moments. Local, National and International media were present and many interviews and follow up
articles have been published.

Additional mural marathon events have since taken
place in Pakistan, Lebanon, Austria, Slovakia, Spain and most recently Egypt, with more than 2,000
children painting murals during summer activities.